


His Other Mom

by betheflame



Series: Shorts & Drabbles 2019 [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, Gen, Irondad, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2020-06-22 09:59:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19665130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betheflame/pseuds/betheflame
Summary: “Peter, she’s called four times. You can’t avoid this,” May said gently to Peter the day after he got back from London.“I know,” Peter said. “I’m just…”“Peter,” May replied. “We talked about this. She’s your last link to Tony and you shouldn’t waste that. She knew him better than anyone, even Happy, so if you have questions, she might just have answers.”Peter rubbed his hand over his face, jet lag was a bitch even with super powers, and nodded. He went into his room and made the call.&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&Basically, on the second viewing of FFH, I wondered why no one gave the Owner of SI a heads up that her tech was being used by a stranger.





	1. Chapter 1

“Pepper, I’m gonna keep an eye on him,” Happy said quietly. “I promised Tony and I promised you and I don’t break promises.”

The pair were sitting on the porch at the Stark Cabin late on a Saturday night and Happy had just finished delivering the last bit of Tony’s various marked boxes to people. Ever the futurist, once they returned from space, Pepper found an entire inventory system in his workshop with carefully marked packages for the team – even those who had been Snaptured because he knew his plan would work. 

Some were obvious to Pepper – Clint got nanobot arrow maker to help him and his kids practice, Bucky got a repair kit for his arm that he’d be able to use on his own, Wanda got a helmet Tony had been working on to help her sleep and block out noise even from her own head. Some less so. Cap, for instance, got a long set of letters that Pepper hadn’t dared to open but she would admit to being incessantly curious about. They’d found those before he went to put the stones back and came back old and Pepper would always wonder if Tony told Steve to go get his dance.

Peter’s both made complete sense and broke her heart in half – the _fucking_ glasses. 

They’d fought about it, before they went to the final battle, oh how they had fought. 

_“Tony, he is a child! Can you imagine someone in 10 years giving Morgan the keys to the universe? The pressure you’re putting him under isn’t fair.”_

_Tony’s piercing gaze fell on her. “Pepper, part of no more adventures? No more surprises? Part of that plan is Peter. Peter is it, Pep. He’s the best parts of me, he’s better than me, he’s… Giving him access to the network will only help him get there. It’s just Friday and he’ll rise to this, I know he will.”_

Except when she’d opened the sunglasses, and seen he’d re-named the system from Friday to “Edith” she knew he had known. He had _known_ he wasn’t coming back, that he was trading his life for Peter’s, that he’d decided the world needed better than Tony and in true Tony fashion, he’d made the decision for all of them. 

Oh, she could be angry, Pepper had spent decades perfecting anger at Tony, but it all burned away when she looked at Peter the morning of the funeral. He wasn’t ready yet, she knew, but at some point, someone was going to have to help him properly deal with everything – both the glasses and his life. She wasn’t just needed to raise Tony’s daughter, she was going to have to help raise his son.

So, Pepper did what she did best when it came to Avengers shenanigans; she waited. She kept everything together in the background, she sent Happy to be the front person so she could keep using Morgan as her tether to reality, and she prepared. 

Happy had just delivered the glasses case to Fury, who she knew would get it to Peter. She’d been having Friday keep an eye on Peter and knew he was about to leave for his big trip, the one she’d quietly paid for so that he could be a kid for 10 goddamn days because if what she’d learned about the universe was true, that length of vacation was even pushing it. 

“Happy, I…” she was quiet again, taking a sip of her tea. “Peter is so fundamentally good, he's so strong, and so kind, and so smart. He’s so smart he scared Tony, but he’s still 16. I watch him with Morgan and he’s … he deserves to be so happy, and I wish I could free him from what Tony is handing him, but Tony would remind me that Peter ultimately wouldn’t see being released from Spider-Man as freedom. He’d see it the way Tony came to see giving up the suits that once, that he was being punished for caring so hard. Because god, he does, doesn’t he. He cares even more than Tony because he’s… well… Howard doesn’t exist in Peter’s life.”

He laughed sadly, a sound that scraped against her heart in a way Happy’s laughs never used to. For as long as Tony was a part of Pepper’s life, so Happy had been. To have him here was both a balm and a constant wound. 

“You’ll watch over him, though, you promise, and if you need me, you’ll call me?” Pepper said, her voice stronger with each word. “This Edith nonsense is too much for him, but I chose to trust Tony a long fucking time ago and I’m not going back now, but still… Tony’s enthusiasm could sometimes drown out logic, so you’ll watch him?”

Happy nodded. “Pep, I swear.”

She sat back, feeling that ever present vice of tears in her throat and nodded.

_________________________________

_Pepper: There’s extra money in your bank account if anything goes wrong._

_Peter: Thanks, Pepper._

_Pepper: Morgan is currently obsessed with ballet so if you happen to be near the Paris Ballet and could send her a picture, she’d lose her mind a bit._

_Peter: I’ll send my best girl tons of pictures, Pepper, don’t worry._

_Pepper: Travel well, Peter. Breathe deep and travel well. We’ll see you and May when you get back. We love you._

_Peter: I love you guys too._

_________________________________

_Pepper: Friday told me you activated Edith. Call me if you want to talk about it._

_________________________________

_Pepper: Peter, I’m not nagging, I swear, I just need to know who Quentin Beck is. Did you really give him access to Edith?_

_Pepper: Not mad, just confused._

_Pepper: He’s proud of you. Wherever he is, he’s proud of you._

_________________________________

“Hello?”

“Pep, it’s me, he’s in the Netherlands.”

Pepper nearly dropped her phone. “What the fuck is he doing in the Netherlands?”

“I’m thinking eating apple pie and collecting tulips? Like I have any idea, Pepper? He called and asked me to come, so I’m going,” Happy said. “I’ll text with updates.”

He hung up before she could mutter that he probably wouldn’t because he never did and Peter never did and that’s fine because it wasn’t like she wasn’t holding onto her sanity by her acrylics thank you very much.

_________________________________

“I’m sending him back with his class,” Happy said to a furious Pepper.

“Happy.”

“He and MJ, they finally-“

“Happy,” Pepper growled. “A multi-billion dollar drone network was hijacked by a guy whose termination files read ‘entirely unstable and not to be trusted with advanced technology’ so I have about four thousand questions, but first and foremost is WHY DID NO ONE CALL ME.”

“There was a lot going on, Pep-“

“I AM HOLDING IN MY HAND AN OVERRIDE CODE TO EDITH. OVERRIDE, HAPPY.”

Happy winced. He had been dreading this phone call. 

“Would you like to know what it is?” 

Happy winced again, because her tone had gone from furious to that fake-patient one she had always used when he and Tony were being idiots. “I’d love to, Pep.”

“BenjaminMaria1945, spoken in my, Rhodey, or Peter’s voice.”

“I’ll remember that for next time,” Happy replied calmly. 

“You’ll, sure. Jesus, Happy,” she sighed on the phone. “It was the right call to let him be with the class and I’m sure May will pick him up, which is great, and yes, you and I are going to talk about you and May when you’re back, because somewhere in the wherever, Tony is giving you the creepiest thumbs up, but by the end of tomorrow, Peter will call me back and I’ll deploy Morgan if I have to.”

She hung up without saying goodbye, which is what had started happening when she was crying and didn’t want Happy to hear. 

He sighed deeply and took one last look out at the Thames. 

“Well, buddy,” he said, addressing Tony, “per usual, I wish you were here.”

_________________________________

“Peter, she’s called four times. You can’t avoid this,” May said gently to Peter the day after he got back from London.

“I know,” Peter said. “I’m just…”

“Peter,” May replied. “We talked about this. She’s your last link to Tony and you shouldn’t waste that. She knew him better than anyone, even Happy, so if you have questions, she might just have answers.”

Peter rubbed his hand over his face, jet lag was a bitch even with super powers, and nodded. He went into his room and made the call. 

“Peter,” she breathed down the line and Peter could tell she was holding back tears and the gut punch of guilt came quickly. “Can you come to my office? I could use a hug.”

And if that didn’t just shatter him… “Yeah, Pepper, let me suit up. I’m on my way.”

As he flung through Queens and over bridges into Manhattan and to the ever familiar Tower, he couldn’t get May’s words out of his head. If he had questions, Pepper probably had answers, and he wasn’t sure why he hadn’t thought of that before. 

Before the snap, before the everything, he and Tony had been in the workshop at the compound and Peter had told Tony – haltingly – about MJ and how special she was and how he was working up the nerve to ask her out and Tony had grinned. 

_“Have I ever told you why I love Pepper?”_

_Peter paused the laser he was working with. “No, I mean, I can guess, but no.”_

_Tony’s smiled softened as he turned towards Peter. “She’s my home. I mean, there are about fourteen billion other reasons, but essentially, if I have to pick one word, it’s that. She’s home. She’s where I’m safe, she’s where I make sense, she’s… she’s it. I have fucked it up so many times because I didn’t listen and she’s fucked it up, too, because this job is really shitty, but we chose each other. Whatever this girl is, whoever she turns out to be, I hope you chose each other, because the power in that is beyond anything you or I could create here.”_

_Peter thought about that for a minute. “Is this part of the speech that everyone makes about how marriage is hard work?”_

_Tony laughed. “Yeah, sure, Underoos. But also about how you balance this –“ he gestured around the workshop and to the web shooters he was fiddling with – “and your life as Peter Parker. There are times you can’t chose MJ, or May, you have to chose something else, so whenever you can, whenever you can make sure she or whoever you love knows that you’d chose them, that you ultimately fight for them, that they are your home, they are how you have the strength to keep going, do that.”_

_Peter nodded._

_“Oh, and you should really talk to Pep more,” Tony replied. “Maybe she can help you not make my mistakes.”_

Peter landed on the ledge outside Pepper’s office that was the designated landing pad for all flying persons and wandered into her office. “Hi, Pepper.”

She turned around and rushed to him like she was jet propelled, pulling him into a hug. “Peter Benjamin Parker don’t you ever, and I mean ever, fight a sociopathic ex-employee again without texting me first, okay?”

He chuckled into her shoulder. “I promise.”

She fussed over him for a few minutes, inspecting any bruises, and then got down to business, having him walk her through Edith and Beck and filling in any gaps that Fury or Happy hadn’t covered for her. 

_“Ms. Potts, with all due respect you aren’t an Avenger.”_

_“Agent Fury, will all due respect I certainly am, have been long before I got a suit, and am also the CEO and Owner of the company that provides all of your tech, so I think I get to be in the goddamn loop.”_

She told Peter about the override code – _“My middle name and Morgan’s?¬”_ – and about some of the powers and limitations of Edith and they both laughed over the system’s name. She asked about MJ and he told her, blushing and stammering, about how they had a date planned for a few days from then.

“Peter, I hope you know how Tony felt about you,” Pepper said. 

“Happy mentioned a few things,” Peter mumbled. 

“Well, let me mention a few more,” she smiled. “When Tony met you, he was in a point in his life where he was so tired. I cannot tell you how tired, and pretty lonely. The team wasn’t doing well and while he never said it out loud, I knew he felt like he lost his family. You, you gave him hope. And hope, Peter, is one of the more powerful forces in the universe.

“And, before you push it off like you have before that it was about your powers, I’ll remind you that it was in the beginning, but it stopped being that really quick. It was you, Peter Parker, this kind and helpful and lovely young man who saw the world the same way Tony did, who’s brain whirred as fast as his did, and who didn’t hate himself the way Tony did.”

Peter’s eyes shot up to meet Pepper’s, who smiled in return. 

“His genius was only matched by his self-loathing, kiddo,” she replied to his unasked question. “He was an absolute human disaster zone when it came to his psyche and a lot of that is from his parents and from the way the world talked about him for so long and a whole host of other things, but he saw in you the best things about him without the worst parts.

“He gave you his glasses because he knows you can handle it, even when you make the wrong choice, you’ll make as many right ones as you need to get back on track, and he trusted you.”

Peter started crying again, and she gathered him in her arms. 

“He went back for you, Peter,” she whispered. “The smartest man in the world invented time travel so he could get you back, give you a chance to put the world to rights, to give you a chance to live. Everyone else was a side benefit for him, it was all about you and I’m not telling you this to crush you under the weight of expectations or anything – there is nothing you could do ever to make him love you less – but to let it be one of the things that helps you focus.”

He nodded. “I never understood why Mr. St – why Tony chose me. I’m just a kid from Queens and I get that I’m strong and sticky, but… I just want to make him proud.”

“God, you do,” Pepper assured him. “And not just because you’re strong and sticky. He would love how you love Morgan, and he’d be so gross about your date with MJ, and he’d be forcing applications to MIT at you, and he’d just be delighted by you, because that’s what parents are, delighted by their children.”

Peter nodded. 

“One final thing, and this may be overstepping, but I want you to know that while you and I don’t know each other as well, I’m still here for all that stuff too. I’m still here for all the Stark stuff, the tech and Tony stories and all of that, but also, if you need a mom who gets this life, a safe house to be a human in while May and Happy do whatever the hell they’re doing, you always have one with me.”

 _“She’s my home,”_ Peter could hear Tony’s voice in his head from all those moons ago.

“I’d like that,” Peter said simply. 

“Me too,” Pepper grinned through teary eyes. “Me too.”


	2. Art from Em!

The absolutely INCREDIBLE [Em](https://www.patreon.com/em_dibujsb) drew the final scene of this fic for me and I had to share.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/betheflame1) or [Tumblr](http://betheflame.tumblr.com) for more on these yahoos. You can also submit prompts and cajole me into writing faster - it usually works.


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